The United States ranks third on Wikipedia’s list of countries and dependencies by population.
India and China occupy the first two positions in the commonly used ranking, followed by the United States. The U.S. entry generally counts the 50 states and the District of Columbia while excluding U.S. territories, a method that keeps the comparison focused on the country itself.
The United States has a population of more than 340 million and is the third-largest national population despite having a much lower density than many Asian countries. Its population is distributed across a vast area, with especially large concentrations along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, around the Great Lakes and in Texas.
The wording “countries and dependencies” can cause confusion because the list includes some territories and entities with special political status. It also matters which year and source are used: census results, official estimates and projections differ. Nevertheless, on Wikipedia’s cited list, the United States is the single canonical third-place answer.